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1 CAEN-STONE DREAMS; 



THE HARMONY BETWEEN INDIYIDUAL AND 
NATIONAL INTERESTS. 



BY 



L/ 



DAVID P. HOLTON, M.D. 



NEW YORK: 
DE WITT & DAVEN^POPvT, PUBLISHERS, 160 & 1G2 NASSAU ST. 

1865. 



1)^ 



\V. U. Tivso.v, IViiilor, U Ueokiniiii Street, N, Y. 



CAEI-STONE DREAMS 



CAEN-STO^'E DREAMS; 



OE, 



THE HAMOKY BETWEEN imiVIDUAL AND 
NATIONAL INTERESTS. 



BY 



DAVID P. HOLTON, M.D. 




NEW TOEK: 

DE WITT & DAYEKPOET, PUBLISHEES, 160 & 1G2 NASSAU ST. 

1855. 



■ Hli 



Entered, according to Act of Congiess, in the year 1855, by 

DAVID P. HOLTON, M.D. 

Ill tlie Clerk's Office of the District Court for tlie Southern 
District of New York. 



■^miSSit^i,. 



CAEI-STOIE DREAMS. 



TWELFTH NIQHT. 

THE ROPES. 

Tossed upon the Atlantic wave, nnder storms, opposing 
winds, squalls and gales, on my first voyage of forty days ; sea- 
sick, witli retelling and vomiting, I found no relief except in 
sleep. 

Then visions of my country's greatness and power constantly 
returned, illustrating always one central thought — the harmony 
'between individual and national interests. Each returning 
view, starting from a similar point, offered the same result ; 
though in relation with divers employments, located in various 
parts of the Union. 

In fact, this serial and daily addition of hopeful views of the 
future of humanity, caused an oblivion of all past troubles, and 
very much diverted the mind from the present. My own per- 
sonal safety seemed not essential, in view of the certainty of the 
realization by my country of those bright visions. As writing 
increased my sickness, I repeated each morning to my son, a 
lad of eleven years of age, the substance of these dreams, that 
his notes of the same might possibly serve the future. For it 
could not fail to occur to me, that if these views should be pre- 
sented to any class of readers, in some faint proportion to the 
sublimity of the original impression, much happiness would be 



6 

conferred on the recipients, and through their sympathies to 
others. 

Safely arrived on terra firma, I have traced them with the 
best lineaments I find in words, which poorly represent the 
happy harmony of the original pictures. 

Of these forty, the twelfth is now offered, though, alone, it 
may not present the reason for attaching to these dreams the 
ajjpellation — Caen-Stone. 

During the night of the 28th of November, the gale still 
increasing, with heavy cross seas, the orders of the captain and 
wate were hm-ried, the rapid movements of the crew, in close- 
reefing the sails, and in arranging the ropes, and other parts, 
were heard amidst rain and hail. 

Confined to our cabin, we slept not till near morning, when 
the body found repose, and the mind was soon happy in per- 
ceiving some of the harmonies signified by the series of systems 
of living circles, composing a robe without seams and without 
border ; through the folds of which could be read : 

" That v)hich is law is from God, 
Conformity to which constitutes a 
Nation's Strength." 

Much time passed in contemplating the universal application 
of this precept to all circumstances and relations, physical, 
intellectual, and moral. 

Then I perceived this robe to be that, which aforetime had 
appeared in the Church of Caen-Stone, as a cloud, comj)osed of 
circles within circles, and various systems of circles intimately 
mingling ; series within series, constituting a unity. 

The scene changed. I was passing down the Sixth" Avenue, 
in E'ew York, when my attention was arrested by the sudden 
appearance of five flags, on each of which were legibly printed 
these words : the eopes. 

One of these flags was suspended over the centre of the 
Avenue, and on each sidewalk two flags, at about thirty feet 
asunder. 

This strange appearance brought all passengers to a halt. 



Yarious were tlie surmisings regarding the phenomenon. Some 
supposed these words were meant to be a caution to all beholders 
to beware the temptations from the outward world, through 
each and every of the five senses — a caution for all to avoid the 
first step in the way of transgression. Some thought them to be 
symbols foreshowing the union of the good of the five races, to 
break every unrighteous bond, and to put down oppression 
wherever exercised upon any of the human species. And others 
supposed them to be signals of danger, threatening any who 
should pass that way. With several who turned aside, in their 
haste to reach their places of business, or their appointments 
down town, I joined in the discussion of the enigmatic flags. 
Conversation turned upon capital j^unishment, other and more 
efficient means of prevention of crime, and the discipline 
demanded in the light of Christianity. 

Reaching the busy wharves, I found myself in the centre of 
a group of carmen and men-along-shore, with their wives and 
their little ones, forming two parties, about commencing the 
journey to their new homes in the West ; the one to the pro- 
ductive, well-watered table lands, open prairies, and fertile 
bottoms of the Minnesota ; the other to rich valleys of the Des 
Moines. 

The Minnesotians and lowians having secured a good supply 
of carpenters' tools, implements of farming, house-keeping uten- 
sils. Bibles, and other school books, wearing apparel, &c., — each 
party, upon their own boat specially chartered for transport to 
Albany, are about bidding adieu to I^ew York, where for years 
they have struggled under all the embarrassment of poverty, 
irregular occupation, uncertainty of employment, high rents, 
and the temptations of a crowded city. They are about changing 
their precarious mode of a sickly existence for one of happy 
independence, in the healthy tillage of the beautiful soil. 

At Albany, their goods and chattels are placed on canal boats 
for Buffalo. By the judicious arrangements of an agent sent in 
advance, the two parties are enabled to visit, for a few days, the 
State. Geological Rooms, and attend six practical lectures by 
the State Geologist, and furnished with sundry printed volumes, 



8 

specimens, and seeds, they leave by railroad for Niagara Falls 
with accelerated hopes. 

Having here enjoyed views which should be considered the 
birth-right of every American, they are met by a delegation of 
farmers from Lewiston, inviting all to turn aside to engage in 
the practical labors of the farm and dairy, a week or ten days, 
for the mutual benefit of all parties. During the evenings, the 
Niagara County Agricultural Society furnished practical lec- 
tures on agriculture ; at the end of which period, their, -goods 
and chattels, having arrived at Buffalo, are transferred to steam- 
boats, chartered for Milwaukie and Chicago, suitable to receive 
also the parties, who, going up the Lakes by Detroit and Mac- 
inaw, would occupy a week in the voyage ; while one of their 
number, leaving Niagara at the suspension bridge, and going 
by the Great Western Canada Railroad to Detroit, thence to 
Grand Haven, and crossing Lake Michigan to Milwaukie, has 
but to announce the expected arrival to her citizens, quick to 
appreciate the dictates of duty and interest, and ample arrange- 
ments are seen completed for the reception of the Minnesota 
and Iowa-bound voyagers. 

In my dream, I immediately saw, as it were, the closing 
exercises of a vast assemblage on the northern plateau of the 
city, under the direction of the Milwaukie Agricultural Society, 
whose President was distributing their valuable publications ; 
also, chests of seeds, and models of newly-invented and well- 
tested implements of husbandry. Soon my attention was 
arrested by the music and waving banners of groups of children 
at a distance, marching towards the building occupied on this 
occasion, known as the "Pavilion Depot;" when I joined a 
party of the voyagers to whom was shown this unique structure. 
I found it to be a circular, fire-proof building, occupying five or 
six acres, including the central open court, and serving as a 
market, a depot for the Mercantile and City Eailroad, and for 
sundry other purposes, as appears in the sequel. It was sur- 
rounded by a street with wide side-walks, planted with four 
rows of trees, selected with reference to the greatest possible 
variety, symmetrically arranged with due regard to their rela- 



tive powers of development in growth. The main building was 
three stories high, having in its circuit many doors and win- 
dows of ordinary size; but the four grand arched portals, 
regarding the cardinal points, were of majestic proportions, 
pierced with sub-arches for the entrance and exit of rail cars or 
carriages : the northern appropriated to branches of the Green 
Bay, Manitowae and Lake Shore, the La Crosse, Fondulac and 
Watertown Kaih-oads ; the western for the Mercantile ojnd City 
Railroad, constructed for purposes first conceived and based 
upon a system first adopted at Milwaukie. The eastern and 
southern grand portals were for the entrance and exit of car- 
riages and omnibuses. The southern was also pierced with side 
arches ; the one for foot-passengers, the other for the railroad 
encircling the southern part of this plateau, known as " Bluff 
Plateau." 

The arcs of the main building, joining these grand j)ortals, 
were bisected by four pavilions, six stories high, on square 
bases, of which one side exceeded the breadth of the circular 
structure, and jetting equally within and without. 

These pavilions were from the centre severally in the direc- 
tion midway between the cardinal points. 

Tlie main building and the paviliofts were covered with pro- 
menade roofs, well protected by balustrades ; and steam power, 
generated in a small building near the northern grand portal, 
served to elevate or lower provisions, goods, apparatus, persons, 
and weights of all kinds for the markets, depot and j)avilions, and 
the furnace of the propelling engine warmed all the buildings. 

In the northwestern pavilion was the Post-ofiice, occuj)ying 
the first floor and galleries in the second, both being connected 
by an open central portion. On the third, fourth and fifth 
stories were the oflices of the eastern, southern, western and 
northern telegraphic companies. On the sixth floor were schools 
for the study of the forms and statutes of Wisconsin, and for 
book-keeping. These schools were free, designed chiefly for 
adults and the more advanced youth of the common schools of 
the State. 

In the southwest pavilion the first and second stories were 



10 

united in one room surrounded witn gaJeries, for the Mer- 
chants' Exchange, and on the third floor were the Mechanics' 
and Farmers' Exchange. On the fourth were the rooms of the 
Affricultural and Horticultural Societies. On the fifth were 
the chemical laboratory and rooms for study and analysis, 
chiefly with reference to the arts and trades. On the sixth 
were the photographic establishments and rooms for expe- 
riments on light and heat as connected with the development 
and growth of vegetable and animal bodies. In the northeast 
pavilion, on the first floor, was a large public reading-room, 
open from 6 in the morning to 10 in the evening at all seasons. 
Above was the City Library, the Cabinets of Mineralogy, 
Geology, and Botany. On the third floor were the officers 
of the various charitable associations and the rooms of the 
Exchange Lyceum, reciprocating in products of nature and art 
with individuals and with corresponding societies in all the 
States of the Union, and in remote- parts of the earth. In con- 
nection with the rooms of the Exchange Lyceum was a green- 
house, jetting southeast upon the promenade roof of the main 
building, upon which, even to the observatory pavilion, was 
beautifully displayed, during the warm months, indigenous and 
exotic plants. This department was under the direction of the 
horticultural society, which, co-operating with the Lyceum, 
efi'ected exchanges. On the fourth floor was the School of 
Design, sustained by a fund created by the liberal donation of 

, formerly residents of New England, free to all, under 

the instruction of celebrated Professors of Drawing, Painting 
and Sculpture. 

This school had become the resort of young artists from all 
sections of the Union. Tlie fifth and sixth story were united to 
form elevated galleries, with sky-light, for paintings, statuary, 
and other specimens of the beaux arts. 

The pavilion of the southeast was remarkable for the beauty 
of its proportions, and the character of solidity it at the same 
time possessed. On the first floor were the central ofiices of 
the fire wardens, and of the police telegraphs, establishing 
instantaneous communication with all the watch-towers, all the 



11 

police stations, and other departments of the city government. 
Here were, also, dormitories for a number of firemen and police- 
m'en, in reserve for emergencies. 

The second and third stories imited, made a large room for 
public lectures, for the public meetings of the associations and 
societies located in the other pavilions, and in the other parts of 
the city, and for the exhibitions of the horticultural society. 
Here the annual course of lectures on Astronomy attracted 
auditors from a great distance. On the fourth story was a select 
library of mathematical, philosophical, geographical, and astro- 
nomical works. 

Here was a bureau of longitudes and triangulations, co-ope- 
rating with similar bureaux in other cities, greatly aided by the 
net- work of telegraphs throughout the land. Here, also, was a 
school for navigation and civil engineering, sustained by the 
legislature of Wisconsin, and free to pupils from every state and 
nation. These subjects were seen to be of increasing impor- 
tance, not only from the rising interests in the direction of the 
Pacific, but from the relation the Great West holds to European 
ports, since the ship canal at Niagara Falls, and other improve- 
ments in lake and river navigation, enable the merchants of 
Milwaukie to make shipments direct to the eastern coasts of the 
Atlantic. 

Here were rooms for the professors, assistants, and students 
of the Observatory. The fifth and sixth stories were specially 
devoted to the purposes of the Observatory, and private study 
in the grand problems relating thereto. 

On the roof, at the four corners, were turrets opening down- 
ward to the observatory rooms, and crowned with rotary cupolas, 
by means of which the astronomers .might safely direct their 
instruments to any part of the heavens, without inconvenience 
from the weather. On the roof were several pluviameters, for 
ascertaining the quantity of rain, and two anemometers, which 
indicated the direction of the wind upon duplicate dials ; one 
pair of which was in the observatory room, and the other in the 
lecture room below. 

Above this pavilion rose a tower, ascended by winding stairs 



12 

within, having platforms at three several heights, with exterior 
balustraded promenades. J^I^ext above was a circular apart- 
ment, presenting on the northern, western, and southern faces 
dials, marking hj day the hour to the citizens, and on the other 
side was placed an oxy-hydrogen light, whose luminous rays 
were directed or reflected eastward, to guide the mariners by 
night, without interfering with the astronomical observations. 

This was crowned with a dome, in manner and for purposes 
similar to those on the turrets described, and under the direction 
of a principal, with assistants, one of whom (by reason of the 
advantages of this position) was charged with the special and 
constant duty of city watch, who, by a speaking-tube, and also 
by telegraphic wires, was in easy communication with the fire 
and police departments on the first floor, and through them 
with all the city. 

In the open court, enclosed by the buildings, were several 
circular rail- tracks, and space for carriages, the portion to the 
southeast for the reception and delivery of passengers being 
protected by a glass roof. 

In the centre of the court was an iron structure of massive 
proportions, chiefly occupied by gigantic machinery, obedient 
to steam power, generated in the small building near the north- 
ern grand portal. 

This structure had been erected over an oval well-hole of 160 
feet in the long, and SO feet in the short diameter. 

"While admiring the gearing, the harmony, and strength of 
this machinery, and being about to inquire into the purposes of 
this intra-terrene passage, and the new features of this Mercan- 
tile and City Eailroad (which, it was said, had been recently 
adopted in New York), there was heard the music of approach- 
ing youth, the inmates of the Milwaukie Orphan Asylum 
accompanying the children of the Minnesota and Iowa-bound 
voyagers, weaving their temperance banners, and singing the 
virtues of the cold-water bath. They entered several cars, 
which were soon being let down the great pit. My curiosity 
was intense. Could it be they were seeking baths in that 
direction ? Or could it be a geological excursion — a veritable 



13 

test of vaunted theories ? In statuary and paintings, the great 
Cuvier is represented as engaged in the study of the earth's 
structure, standing by the side of a globe, deeply cleft, exposing 
geological strata and fossils ; but while the French are distin- 
guished for learned theories, the Americans offer demonstra- 
tions, full development, and practice. Or might not this novel 
route be the work of abolitionists, conducting the refugee to 
cities of refuge? Or again, could this intra-terrene passage 
have political bearings ? Since Congress prosecutes so slowly 
the great California and Oregon Railroads, and the line of 
steam-packets on the Pacific to the rich markets of the East, 
might not this strange passage be some Yankee Notion (cutting 
clear of all national jealousies), for the annexation of China? 

Notwithstanding the strength and harmony of the machinery 
again was noticed, yet, as the cars descended, irrepressible fear 
prevailed, and I awoke. The storm continued ; the sailors were 
still plying the ropes ; my retching and vomiting renewed. I 
waited the return of sleep to see the details of the Mercantile 
and City Railroad, to learn the solution of the mystic flags in 
the Sixth Avenue, and the destiny of the subterraneans. 

David P. Holton. 



THIRTEENTH NIGHT. 

THE ROPES (CONTINUED) 

The sense of physical suffering and external danger being 
distanced by sleep, agreeable visions returned. The guardian 
angel, in robes like unto a cloud, was above the altar in the 
church of Caen-Stone. Through the folds of the involved and 
moving circles was read : 

" Woe unto the world because of ofifences," 

And to illustrate the modes of intellectual and moral influ- 
ences in, through, and upon man, again was presented the mys- 
tic play of circles within circles, developing forms modified in 
two orders : firstly, by a change in the primary impulse under 
similar circumstances of relation ; and secondly, by simi- 
larity of impulse under different external relations. All was 
obedient to the will of the Great Author of the universe. 

That this model of the works of Deity in the moral kingdom 
might not fail to be appreciated, reference was made to analo- 
gical acts in the vegetable growth, illustrating modifications of 
the second order ; viz., similar cells, generated under the same 
cause, and impressed with the same laws of development, pro- 
duce mature structures differing in form, consistence, color and 
other properties, according to the modifying external relations 
or influences. This was shown to be true in the animal as well 
as in the vegetable kingdom. The correlation of physical, 
intellectual, and moral influences was in like manner demon- 
strated to be so intimate, that the abnormal condition of one 
department rendered discordant the others. 

It was no longer difiicult to understand how one physical 



15 

error or transgression of law entrains physical evil on the indi- 
vidual, in the species, and even in neighboring species ; and 
that in man this evil is not limited to the physical frame, but 
draws with it hurt to his soul. 

It was no longer a mystery, that there was pronounced, 
" Woe to that man hy lohom the offence cometh^'' and that 
" It were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged about 
his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the 
sea." 

The scene changed. I stood in a cold damp basement at the 
" Five Points^'' in New York, whither I had been conducted 
by two children, whose famished bodies, clothed in rags, 
revealed the sad consequences of the intemperance of their 
parents, then wallowing in their pestiferous filth. My sympa- 
thies were fully enlisted in these pitiable objects, when I 
seemed transported to the scene of trial of those who furnished 
the intoxicating bowl, including the authorities sanctioning 
this evil, and those who, by their votes, had elected officers to 
license the creation of scenes like this, and as the judge held 
up to view their true position in this matter, and pronounced, 

" Woe to him by whom the offence cometh,^'' 

all responded, Amen. 

Eeflections upon the enormity of guilt and suffering pro- 
duced by this great evil occupied some moments, when a star 
of hope arose. 

The genius of temperance appeared, waving her banner, sur- 
rounded by legislators, who would not publish as law that 
which was transgression of right. 

Following these were companies of youth ; many of them 
from infancy had been the unhappy victims of the intem- 
perance of their parents, now fortunately escaped from j^hysi- 
cal and moral oflences of vitiated city poverty. This banner 
appeared like that I had recently seen at the pavilion depot, 
borne by youth, whom I now saw in procession on " Prome- 
nade Bluff,'' in the eastern part of Milwaukie. Tliey soon 



16 

descended, by several flights of steps, from terrace to terrace, 
ornamented with beautiful trees, floM-ers, and statuary, and 
were seen about entering the Sailors' ChajDel, on the quay. 
This chapel was a three story building, on land recently 
gained to the city from Lake Michigan, by erecting a wharf 
parallel with, and at about fifty rods distant from, the-^hore, and 
filling the included space of shallow water with dirt removed in 
excavations for the tunnel under the bluff plateau, through which 
passed the Mercantile and City Railroad, and with, dirt fur- 
nished in depressing the grade of the water front of the north 
shore plateau. 

The first story of this chapel was pierced with an arch, giving 
passage to the double track of said railroad ; to the right of 
which was a reading-room, and to the left a cabinet of products 
of nature and art, in which the public schools took the leading 
interest. On the second floor was the residence of the chaplain. 
TJie third story was the chapel, where, in addition to the usual 
chapel services, was a weekly reunion of the teachers of Mil- 
waukie for mutual aid, and for special encouragement to the 
children of the city schools, in naming and classifying minerals 
and plants which they may have collected for exchange, for 
donation to the school cabinet below, or for their private use, 
and brought to the chapel on their way to the baths. This 
reunion was appointed for the hour next preceding the time 
judged most convenient and proper for the youth of Milwaukie 
to enjoy this healthful exercise. The chaplain particularly 
delighted in discoursing upon the works of God to his juvenile 
auditors. 

East of the chapel, and at the distance of the width of a 
street, was the quay depot of the Mercantile and City Eailroad, 
This was an octagonal building, with glass roof. The doors of 
the west side opened to the cars direct from that portion of the 
city in the valley at Kilbourntown, through the tunnel under 
the plateau. Tlie southern side gave exit to the cars over the 
land newly made, running near the water's edge on Mercantile 
"Wharf to near the point where the river enters the lake. From 
that point, the railroad passed up the eastern bank of the Mil- 



17 

waukie river to the place of beginning. I^Tear the junction of 
this river with the Menomonee, a branch crossed to the depot 
of the Milwaulde and MississijDpi Raib-oad ; thence along the 
base of the western plateau to the Kilbourntown depot aforesaid. 
From the Mississippi depot a branch crossed the Menomonee, 
to accommodate the Racine and Chicago depot, with an exten- 
sion or branch for the citizens of Walker's Point; thus completing 
the double circuit on a plain nearly level with the octagonal depot. 

The eastern doors were for branch tracks, extending on a 
wharf jetting east to deep water, for the accommodation of the 
Grand Haven and Milwaukie Steamboat Company, and passen- 
gers to and from the East. 

The northern side opened for a branch to the land newly 
formed for the spacious lumber-yards, removed from the 
hazards of fire, where were planing machines, mortice and 
tenon machines, and several cabinet factories and flouring-mills, 
propelled by the stationary engine in the octagonal depot, or, 
as occasion required, by special engines placed nearer. Here, 
also, were store houses for the celebrated Milwaukie brick, and 
power for transferring them to vessels. This wharf extended 
north to meet the main land on the north shore, where was the 
freight de'pot of a branch of the Lake Shore Railroad. This 
branch was on an inclined plane, and gravity served as the pro- 
pelling force ; the freight from the north being comparatively 
heavier than the returning cars. 

In the northeastern portion of the octagon were the furnace 
and boilers for one, two, three, or more fires, as occasion should 
require. The northeastern side was continuous with a range 
of buildings jetting N.E,, used as wash-houses, supplied with 
heat and motive power from this furnace. 

Tlie arrangements were ample for doing the washing and iron- 
ing for the whole city, at twelve cents per dozen for common 
pieces. Also, rooms with King's washing machines, and other 
apparatus, were furnished for washerwomen at very moderate 
charge by the hour. This, near its junction with the octagon, 
was pierced by an arch, to give a passage for carriages to and 
from the Grand Haven depot on East Wharf. 

2 



18 

The southeastern side was continuous, witn a double row of 
bath-houses along the sides of a wharf jetting S. E,, and supplied 
with heat from the furnace in the octagon. Both the wash and 
the bath-houses, so positioned, could be extended directly east, 
as the increase of the city should demand enlargement. The 
price of a cold bath, or covered swimming-bath, was one cent ; 
for a warm bath, two cents. Orphans, inmates of alms-houses, 
and persons specially named by the overseers of the poor, were 
furnished with gratuitous baths. 

The northwestern portion was for the engine and for the ticket 
office and passengers on the outer track, on which the cars 
started for the tunnel ; while the southwestern was for those on 
the inner track, starting south, to make the circuit in the oppo- 
site direction. 

On the Grand Haven wharf, a few rods east of the octagon, 
was the gymnasium, a building sustained by three arches. 
Through the centre one, passed the rails for the Grand Haven 
depot, built at the end of the wharf. The northern arch was for 
the passage of carriages, and the southern for foot passengers, to 
and from the Grand Haven ferryboats. On the first floor was 
the gymnasium for males, and above was that for females. The 
lower gymnasium was joined by a foot-bridge to the northern 
tier of baths for gentlemen ; and the upper gymnasium was 
joined by a covered foot-bridge over the former, and over the 
building of the first tier, and across the narrow wharf to the 
southern tier of baths for ladies. The Director of the gymna- 
sium and the baths, occupied a wing23rojecting south, furnished 
with a library of books and periodicals devoted to these sub- 
jects, for the use of bathers. Here was a weekly re-union of 
physicians, teachers, and superintendents of public institutions, 
for a comparison of hygienic views in relation to bathing and 
gymnastic exercises, and other subjects, regarding public health. 
This body of counsellors had at all times the free use of the 
baths and of the gymnasium, and their practical conclusions 
were recorded in a book open to the public. 

Joining th^ southern side of the Grand Haven wharf, and 
extending from the gymnasium to the octagon, was a three story 
buildino;. The first and second stories were used for barbers' 



19 

shops ; and tlie third story was the ladies' hair-dressing saloon, 
accessible only from the npper foot-bridge and from the ladies' 
gymnasium. 

The charge to gentlemen was, for shaving, three cents, and 
for hair-cutting, five cents ; and for ladies' hair-dressing, propor. 
tionably moderate. In each department was a box, in which 
parties who esteemed these prices too low, threw gifts, to con- 
stitute a fund for the use of the ladies' committees of the several 
wards, in their visitations among the sick poor of the city. 

Indulging in a train of reflections upon the duty of a city to 
surround its individual members with physical, intellectual, and 
moral influences, for the entire good, I was aroused by the 
approach of the youth, who, having completed their weekly exer- 
cise in natural history, and their exchanges and donations of 
specimens, in the chapel, aided by the voluntary re-union of 
teachers and the chaplain, were proceeding to their baths. 
Then I understood the object of the youth, formerly entering 
the intra-terrene passage of the pavilion depot, of which the 
mystery was now solved. Then I joined a company of travel- 
lers from the east, in the rear cars of a train of six, on the outer 
circuit, which was soon moving west, drawn by the " motive 
rope," circulated by the force of the stationary steam-engine in 
the octagon. 

The train entered the tunnel, and when arrived under the 
pavilion depot, and without arresting the main train, the two 
rear cars, by a change in attachments and in the direction of a 
short-hinged portion of the rails, were shifted upon a side track 
to the right. This change was effected by a bar previously 
fixed in the car next preceding the shifted ones acting on 
machinery, and the same agency j)ut in motion, another appa- 
ratus for the simultaneous depression of the propelling rope in 
rear of the onward moving train. 

Thus we were left at the bottom of the great well under the 
gigantic machinery of the pavilion depot. At the same time, 
on the tracks of the inner circuit, there approached from the 
west a train of an equal number of cars, two of which being- 
directed on a side track to the south, remained stationary. 



20 

wliile the others passed on to deliver passengers for the Grand 
Haven steamboats, the octagonal depot, or to complete the cir- 
cuit of the city. 

Tliongh far below the surface of the plateau, we enjoyed full 
daylight, by reason of the amplitude of this opening. 

Soon these four cars were simultaneously elevated ; and tour- 
ists from the majestic falls of St. Anthony, and the sublime cata- 
ract of Niagara, ascend the observatory tower ; and passengers 
from Chicago, and places south, meet those from Green Bay upon 
the pavilion promenade ; and passing into the rooms of the 
agricultural and horticultural societies, are entertained with an 
exposition of the experiments on the germination of seeds in 
soils of various compositions, different degrees of moisture, 
temperature, and light, and the growth of plants under circum- 
stances equally varied. 

In these examinations were seen some of the Minnesota and 
Iowa bound voyagers, while others were on the city experi- 
mental farm on the plateau, about three miles west, thus pro- 
longing their visit in Milwaukie some four or five days. 

Then, in my dream, I visited this farm, and saw many expe- 
riments in process of development, and in connection with the 
State Experimental Farm at Madison, and other corresponding 
associations, determining : 

1. The choice of crops in rotation, or otherwise best adapted 
to the circumstances present, including soil, temperature, 
moisture, &c., requiring no artificial additions. 

2. The exact combinations, additions, and ameliorations best 
fitted to any required crop. 

3. The best rotation, in crops on given soils, and the quality 
and quantity of additions and manures to diflerent soils best 
fitted to said rotation. 

4. The best times and modes of planting, cultivating, and 
harvesting. 

5. The solution of the problem of economy in the quality 
and quantity of food for difi'erent animals, the times of feeding, 
the degree and mode of housing them, and many other 
inquiries on animal life. 



21 

6. The problems of the dairy. 

Y. Tlie best compositions and manipulations for enrichino* 
the soil. 

8. The best implements of husbandry. 

9. Modes of extending the science and love of farmino-, 

10. Good store-houses for the harvests, and railroads to the 
market. 

These developments had an increased value by reason of the 
ready communication between the city and the farm, invitino- 
the visits of citizens and strangers. Beyond the experimental 
farm was the almshouse farm and three hospitals. 

1. A charity hospital for the sick poor. 

2. A hospital for the citizen without fixed home, and for the 
stranger, where the wealthy and those of moderate means 
might be comfortably attended during sickness at proper 
charges. 

3. Beyond these was a third hospital, for small-pox patients, 
and those sick of other contagious diseases, under the double 
arrangement for charity and paying patients. 

The western plateau between the Menomonee and the 
Milwaukie rivers, the eastern or bluff plateau between the 
Milwaukie and the lake, as well as the central and southern 
parts of the city, being each surrounded and traversed by a 
branch of the Mercantile and City Eailroad, offered unprece- 
dented conveniences to the citizens, who were conveyed to the 
pavilions, to the north shore, to any of the railroad depots, 
steamboat landings, markets, the experimental farm, city baths, 
and gymnasium, and other sections, at the moderate charge of 
two cents. Even this small charge was found to be a source of 
pecuniary aid to the city funds, thus harmonizing individual 
and public interests. 

The solution of this proTjlem was clear, on viewing the several 
stationary steam-engines, in sundry parts of the city, for safely 
propelling the cars, and examining the numerous establishments 
for the economical use of any surplus heat and power, and 
learning the many interests thereby harmonized. 

The safety and convenience of this road were crowned by a 



22 

simple mechanism, acted on by the progressive movement of 
the cars, by which tlie motive-rope was depressed into a covered 
box at all the street crossings after the passage of a train, and 
elevated on its approach. Arrived within six rods of the cross 
ing, the train caused the signals to be presented over the street 
and side-walks ; and as the cars advanced, the cover of the box 
performed a semi-revolution on its hinges, when the rope arose 
to its p-eneral level till the cars should have crossed the street : 
then the onw^ard movement of the cars changed the gearing of 
the apparatus, and the rope across the street was instantly 
depressed, the cover returned, the signals removed ; and the 
carriages and passengers, having been momentarily arrested^ 
resumed their wonted progress. Then was apparent the signifi- 
cance of the mystic flags in the Sixth Avenue, New York. 

The safety and convenience of this railroad were doubly 
crowned by the simplicity of the attachments and detachments 
of the trains to and from the motive rope. In the front car was 
a cylinder, around which was a rope of some ten or twelve rods' 
length, having its free extremity armed with a clasp fitted to 
seize, with the least possible friction, the motive rope. When 
the train was fully ready to move, this clasp was applied ; and 
as the cylinder revolved, '■'- gming ro^e'''' freely, or rather, at a 
Cybelean price, it caused by its connections, at first, an impulse 
almost imperceptible, but progressively increasing to equal the 
velocity of the motive-rope. Then a new attachment was made 
under the front extremity of the car, and the cylinder-rope 
relaxed, the clasp yielded its hold, and slid back, as the rope 
was rewound about the cylinder, prej^ared for a similar series 
at the next stage. 

The train, entire or in parts, could be instantly detached at 
any time from the motive-rope, and arrested by breaks, or 
shifted to side-tracks, as observed in the Pavilion Tunnel. 

A change in the gearing connecting with the cylinder, enabled 
the conductor to make delivery of passengers at rest, or under 
moderate movement. Goods were delivered in like manner, 
and under quicker movement, according to quality of the pack- 
age, and accompanying instruction. 



23 

This silent, unoLtnisive railroad was divested of most all 
objectionable features in city practice ; and the merchants 
whose stores reached the river's edge, esteemed the passage of 
this road through their rear basement a great advantage to their 
mercantile interests; not only by the ready access thus afforded 
to customers from all parts of the city, but chiefly in the recep- 
tion and transmission of goods. Again, regarding the western 
plateau, I observed a continuous three story building, constructed 
of the beautiful Milwaukie brick, over the rail tracks, and ele- 
vated on j)illars at a suitable height to offer no impediment to 
the cars. At the street-crossings the first and second stories 
were open space, the upper story only being continuous ; and 
under it was the unobstructed passage. At some crossings in the 
densel}" populated parts of the city, nothing but the metallic 
roof extended over the street. Over the valley of the Meno- 
monee, from the southern to the western plateau, and also over 
the valley of the Milwankie, from the western to the eastern 
j)lateau, the railroad had over it simply the roof, forming with 
that of the continuous building a graceful ornament ; a balus- 
traded promenade roof, the common foot road, easily accessible 
at short stages. 

The further j)urposes of this long series was not apparent, and 
while musing thereon, I heard the meriy sounds of Milwaukie 
children with their guests, the youth of the Minnesota and Iowa 
bound passengers and citizens of all ages, who, having visited 
the experimental farm, and attended the lecture on Rural 
Economy^ in the amphitheatre thereto attached, were now en- 
joying this majestic promenade, and whom I now joined. 
Some descended at the several spacious covered flights of steps, 
seeking their respective homes ; others were going to " Prome- 
nade Bluff,'''' thence to the city baths. 

Of these parties I learned the details in full for the harmoni- 
zation of many interests, not yet mentioned, the which being 
about to transcribe for imitation by other cities, I awoke. 

Going on deck, I learned we were in latitude 38° north, and 
in longitude 57° west of London. Gale still increasing, with 
heavy cross seas. David P. Holton. 



FOURTEENTH NIGHT. 

THE ARBOR. 

The wind blew a gale from the north. Most of the sails hav- 
ing been previously furled, the sailors now took in the foresail 
and fore-topsail, and hove to under a close-reefed main-topsail ; 
the ship lay up E. K. E., and fell off E. S. E. Tlius drifting to 
and fro, and making no advance towards the desired shores of 
France, yet fifty-seven degrees distant, imagination took new 
flights in measuring the great deep, and the earnest inquiry 
arose, when will this mighty waste be passed ? 

Again sickness forcing me to my berth, I courted pleasant 
dreams. Soon the vine-clad hills of France were before me, 
and her delicious grapes were sweet to my palate, which so long 
had loathed every dish. Then was I in my own home in 
Twenty-sixth street, New York, recently left, with my wife and 
little ones, participating with them of the rich clusters, gathered 
from vines upon a trellised frame-work in the rear of the flower 
garden, which seemed to have been created in my absence. 

In regarding further, a similar arrangement was seen to be 
the rear appendage of adjoining houses, midway between the 
blocks on the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh streets, forming 
one continuous and beautiful arbor from Sixth tcr Seventh 
Avenues. 

While the proprietorship was vested in the occupants sever- 
ally, there seemed a community of purposes lovely to contem- 
plate, an index of the tendencies of the rising republics in 
the western world for the union and harmony of individual 
and national interests. 

Tlie well-ordered family being the surest basis of democra- 



25 

tic government, true pollcv invites tlie study and practice of 
whatever increases the facility of sustaining tlie happiness and 
dignity of the family and home. 

Then, in my dream, I seemed to be at the anniversary exer- 
cises of the Society for the Eeformation of Juvenile Delin- 
quents. Entering Mercer street church as the discourse was 
nearly concluded, I heard the speaker say, "Thus we have seen 
that temptations and dangers incident to great cities are upon 
the high and low; that riches and poverty are alike joined in 
crime, against which it is the duty and policy of government 
to provide. We have seen the grounds of labor among this 
latter class to be the more hopeful ; because their prominent 
occasions point more clearly to a tangible, physical remedy." 

Among the many hindrances to the good establishment of 
the family by those of small means, he enumerated the ill- 
adaptation of apartments for domestic arrangements, and the 
disadvantages under which the poor have usually been forced 
to make their small purchases, illustrating the text • 

" The destruction of the poor is his poverty.'' 

In this connection he mentioned, as one of the physical means 
immediately available for obviating these burdens, the multi- 
plied and novel facilities ofiered by the new order of bake- 
houses, wash-houses, baths, markets, dwelling-houses, and 
many other items connected with the city railroad system „ 

These exercises concluded, returning homeward, I observed 
that from East River to the Hudson, midway between 12th 
and 13th streets, covering .the rear and contiguous bor- 
ders of the flower gardens attached to the houses thereon, was 
seen the beautiful arbor of vines, like that between 2Gth 
and 27th streets. 

Arrived in Sixth Avenue, corner of 26th street, I saw, in 
the line of these arbors, suddenly present the five flags which 
aforetime had appeared enigmatical ; but of which the pur- 
poses were now recognized to be similar to those used in Mil- 
waukie. 

All persons in the Avenue stopped ; soon the upper half of 



26 

the protection box performed its semi-revolution, moving, with 
itself, iu like manner, a sliort hinged portion of the track of the 
Sixth Avenue railroad, the motive rope rose to its level, a 
train of cars emerged from under the arbor, thus doubly use- 
ful ; the train passed onward, the rope descended into its box, 
the cover returned, the track of the other railroad was restored, 
the flags retired from view, and 6th Avenue assumed its 
wonted scenes of activity. 

On the east side of Sixth Avenue, midway between the 
26th and 2Tth streets, an arch of moderate dimensions gave 
passage to the double tracks. 

On the right of the arch was a saloon for passengers going 
towards Bellevue, and thence along East River to the Battery 
or Harlem ; on the left was a saloon for passengers going 
towards the Hudson, thence through a western section to the 
southern or northern extremity of the island. Over this arch and 
these saloons was a four-story dwelling-house, the property of 
the city, rented to families. [The sequel showed many such in 
the city.] Adjoining this building on the east was the house for 
the station cars going either way, shifted from the main track 
to the right or left in the manner seen in the tunnel under the 
Pavilion Depot. 

In one of these cars, thus left, I took seat as hazard passen- 
ger for some circuit unknown. 

Our car was filled, door closed, all ready for attachment to 
a train on its arrival, or for single attachment to the motive 
rope, as convenience should dictate, and in the manner for- 
merly observed in Milwaukie. According to which latter 
mode we were soon moving west across Sixth Avenue, through 
an arch, over which, and on each side of which, was a new 
dwelling-house, and entering the arbor first described, we found 
it to be a light structure, with iron roof, and sides of open- 
work, of the same material. 

Arrived midway between two adjacent avenues, we entered 
an ample building, known as "West 26th station, in the 
form of a Greek cross, having a stationary engine, with gear- 
ing to propel four separate motive ropes, similar to the rail- 



27 

road connections at tlie octagonal depot on the Milwaukie 
quays. 

Following tlie destiny of my car, I was soon northward 
hound. At 27th, 28th, 29th, and all the other streets seve- 
rally passed, the same series of presentations of flags, &c., 
above described, was successively witnessed, till we arrived 
at the station, "West 4:2d, midway between 4:2d and 43d 
streets. Here we rested thirty seconds, during which time 
some cars of our train were changed to the East Eiver 
motive rope, and others to the tracks directed westward. 
Thus far, except at the street crossings, we had been pro- 
tected from the sun's rays by the arbor. 

Progressing northward to Harlem, the arbor gave place 
to a substantial brick building, supported on arches and pil- 
lars, under which, in place of two, there were four tracks. 
The two central corresponded to the two under tlie arbor, 
and the two lateral tracks were for sub-station and for freight 
cars at rest for lading and unlading. On the way to Harlem, 
at sundry intervals, from a quarter to three-quarters of a mile 
sej^arated, we found stations like those named West 26th and 
"West 42d, and for similar branches at right-angles. 

This continuous building was an immense store-house for the 
products of the country arriving by eastern, northern, western, 
and southern railroads, destined for the city i:se or for shipment. 

Under this series were vast and numerous cellars, for winter 
as well as for summer use. 

The fourth story was contimved over all the cross streets 
from 42d street to Harlem River, and rented for offices, 
artists' studios, societies, schools, &c. ; and a part of it was tem- 
porarily used for ropewalks, to supply the increasing demand 
for our railroad and shipping interest. 

Over the whole was placed a promenade roof, safely balus- 
traded, and accessible at frequent stages. The ofSces and other 
rooms on the fourth story, were accessible from the roof, through 
doors uniformly and tastefully arranged. The stationary engines 
propelling the cars, effected all the mechanical changes and 
transfers, as mentioned above, and also by another system of 



28 

apparatus, effected tlie lifting in the freight houses, and sup- 
plied the ropewalks with motive power. 

The building was interrupted at the great central park, 
recently enclosed, graded, terraced, and traversed with avenues 
and alleys, winding among groves, fountains, and parterres, and 
renamed the " Yista Paek." 

Here, in place of the arbor or continuous building, the rail- 
road passed in the centre of an extended green-house, sur- 
mounted by a highly ornamented j)romenade roof, in continu- 
ation with those north and south. 

For the cultivation and sale of plants, seeds, and flowers, the 
basement, the first and second stories, were rented to florists, 
having uniform, lofty rooms of the height of two stories, pro- 
jecting east and west, with roof and walls of glass. The third 
story was occupied by the American Institute, and contained 
models of furnaces, steam-engines, locomotives, bake-houses, 
iron-foundries, wash-houses, roofing, iron promenade roofs over- 
laid with asphaltum, apparatus for heating and lighting, turn- 
ing-lathes, capstans, cranes, freight-arms, bridges, markets, 
stewards' depots, carpentry, pulleys, diving-bells, printing- 
presses, looms, spinning-machines, ropewalks, a collection of 
weights and measures of countries with which the great empo- 
rium is commercially connected, agricultural implements, astro- 
nomical instruments, &c. ; also a library, on subjects connected 
with agriculture, arts, and trades. 

The fourth story was occupied, one half by the Horticultural 
Society, and the other by the New York Lyceum of Natural 
History, rent free, on condition that they there open a per- 
petual exhibition, free to the public from sunrise till sunset, 
except on the Sabbath ; a suitable police guard and other attend- 
ants being furnished by the city. 

Each of these societies established a co-ordinate department, 
auxiliary to the Exchange Lyceum, reciprocating in products 
of nature and art with individuals, and with corresponding 
societies in all the States of the Union, and in remote parts of 
the earth. 

Across the centre pierced a wide arch of height equal to the 



29 

building, over wliich was only the graceful promenade. This 
opening was made in order not to intercept the view presented 
by the " Grand Vista," from river to river. 

On the right and left of this arch rose two j^avilions, on square 
bases, of which one side exceeded the breadth of the main 
building, surmounted by towers. 

The southern, with the omission of the light-house combina- 
tion, corresponded in most respects to the southeast pavilion 
seen on Bluff Plateau, Milwaukie. For the details, in regard 
to the police telegrai^h, establishing instantaneous communica- 
tion with all the watch-towers, the police stations, and other 
departments of the city government ; for the large room for 
public lectures, for the mathematical, philosophical, and astro- 
nomical arrangements, and for the facilities of this watch-tower, 
the reader will please refer to the Observatory Pavilion on 
Bluff Plateau. 

The northern pavilion was for the offices of the City and 
Mercantile Railroad, and the central office of the telegraphs 
specially devoted to the business of said road and freight-houses, 
markets, bake-houses, and other structures or dwellings, built 
in harmonious relation thereto. Here were records of every 
occupied and vacant apartment rented or to be rented by the 
city. For the convenience of all parties, the walls of these 
offices, in sectional order, exhibited plans of every room. The 
occupancy of any room, or section of a room, v/as indicated by the 
white ground of the plan. When any room or section of apart- 
ments ceased to be rented or used, it was immediately tele- 
graphed to this central office ; and by a very simple mechanism, 
the white was covered by a slide, painted some one of several 
colors of conventional significance respecting the adaptation 
of the room to sj^ecific purposes, its relation to motive 
power, &c. 

Thus the citizen of small beginnings, the commission mer- 
chant, the importer, the country farmer, the manufacturer or 
mechanic; seeking lofts, cellars, or other apartments, tempo- 
rarily, for their wares, all alike without questioning the agents, 
or taxing the kindness of officials, could learn from the " rent 



30 

plans'''' upon the walls what vacant rooms would best suit 
their purposes, preliminary to formal application at tho 
desk. 

The city authorities, impressed with the dictates of true 
policy, and cognizant of the fact, that " the destruction of the 
poor is his poverty," had established equitable rents ; the man 
of small means taking a little apartment for a short time, paid 
in the same ratio as the merchant of more ample scope. 

Arrived at the northern extremity of the island, I found 
improvements between the East and the Hudson rivers ; so that 
the largest ships freely passed to and fro. Bordering this con- 
necting arm of navigable waters, were immense store-houses, 
chiefly owned or rented by commission merchants and import- 
ers, whose places of business were in the commercial centre, 
near the other extremity of the city. 

Here, also, as M^ell as at the great promenade freight-houses, 
extending from Forty-second street to Harlem Eiver (and 
sundry other places shown in the sequel), at moderate prices, 
the farmer, the produce broker, and the grocer, might deposit, 
temporarily, their goods ; from which monopoly the good citi- 
zens of New York found nothing to fear. 

Observing my car performing the evolutions symptomatic of 
departure, I resumed my seat. Passing to the great union 
depot at Harlem, many of my fellow-passengers left for the 
ISTorthern and ISTew England railroads. Thence our course 
along the East River presented to view corresponding facilities 
for ferry and other steamboat landings. Midway between 
Twenty-seventh and Twenty-sixth, my car turned westward. 
At the union depot of New Haven and city railroads, corner 
of the Fourth Avenue, the hazard passenger left his first car, 
pursuing its second round ; many facilities having been observed 
not yet mentioned. Then I entered a train for the southern 
circuit; and passing eastward to Bellevue, thence along the 
borders of the East and Hudson rivers, I observed that the sta- 
tionary engines were more frequent, and not only gave motive 
force to the ropes, as heretofore described, but, as at Milwaukie, 
effected the lading and unlading of vessels, and impelled branch 



31 

cars on the jetting wharves, to the great convenience of the 
shipping interest. 

To each stationary power, placed near the junction of the 
main line of the qnays with the wharf, jetting at right angles, 
was geared a revolving cylinder, extending right and left to the 
neighboring wharf. 

This cylinder was contaiued in an iron box, permanently closed, 
a few inches below the surface of the street, and thus furnished 
motive power to the adjacent slips and their surrounding 
wharves. If on a fourth, or more distant slip or wharf, unsup 
plied motive power were needed, this was communicated by 
ropes contained in a concealed box, parallel with the cylinder, 
and prolonged as occasion should require. The power thus 
transmitted was used at will for the motive purposes on eacl/ 
wharf. 

South and West streets were no longer encumbered with 
stages, carts, and 'long-shoremen ; the hazards of this latter class 
having been exchanged for more permanent employments, 
growing out of the new order ; and many had found honorable 
independence on the fertile farms of the great "West. 

Then in my dream was I with our Minnesota-bound voyagers, 
whom I accompanied from Milwaukie to the Mississippi ; 
thence to St. Paul and St. Anthony's Falls ; and leaving the 
Mississippi at Fort Snelling, we ascended the Minnesota to the 
fertile valley of the Mankato river. Li all these places, the 
rapid flight and extended scope of a dream presented scenes of 
progress on a scale too vast, and novelties too sublime, to be 
reported on this occasion. 

Passing south into Iowa, I found the other party of our west- 
ern voyagers, who, leaving Milwaukie for Chicago, had passed 
the Mississippi on the wire suspension railroad bridge, at Keo- 
kuk, and ascended the Des Moines river to the rich regions 
neighboring to our Minnesotians, where, as it appeared in my 
dream, they had already been established some three or four 
years. Many, whom in Kew York I had seen struggling with 
overpowering difficulties, were hero independent agriculturists; 
practising upon the scientific principles deduced from observa- 



32 

tion and experiment, and enjoying abundant harvests in 
retnrn. 

Iowa's rich prairies were easily cultivated, and her natural 
pastures afforded peculiar facilities for the rearing of cattle. 
Wool growing was one of the staple employments. The pro- 
duct of the vine here seen, brought to mind juvenile pictures 
representing the returning spies, laden with the rich clusters of 
Eschol. 

Formerly this people had too well known the sad effects of 
intemperance to allow intoxicating drinks in their community ; 
they were too well informed of the insidious beginnings of the 
fatal cup, to manufacture a tempting beverage, which the expe- 
rience of revolving years has proved hazardous to personal 
safety and good order. 

They cultivated the vine for what grapes they might desire 
to enjoy in their fresh state, and to preserve, in varions ways, 
for use and for market ; . and in place of any surplus quantity of 
vines, they rejoiced in the harvest of luxuriant cereal and root 
croj^s, and all the fruits of temperate climates. 

Flaod and hem]) of excellent quality were grow^n in great 
abundance, for which the demand in the eastern cities was 
said to have been recently much increased. Their merry har- 
vest-song offered this joyous chorus : 

" The crowded city mocked our hopes, 
We 'long-shore boys in vain pulled ropes ; 
Now, harvests rich, good air and health, 
With happy homes, compose our wealth." 

This brought me, in my dream, to the arrangement of the 
ropes in connection with the mercantile and city railroad. At 
the steamboat landing, near the Battery, my luggage, labelled 
with the street and number of my residence, was without spe- 
cial oversight of owner, placed on a freight car belonging to 
railroad section No. 5, in which I resided, and at my conve- 
nience taking a j)assenger car, I was soon at home. 

Some quarter of an hour after, the act of depositing the lug- 
gage oh the platform under the vines of the rear arbor, caused 



33 

a movement of the wire attached to a bell within the house, 
which announced the arrival of mj trunks, for which all charges 
were paid at the time of purchasing the passenger ticket to the 
city, at the steamboat office. 

In case trunks or other luggage were found of unsuitable 
dimensions or weight for said platform, the conductor, in his 
discretion, would pass along with them to the next sub-station, 
station, or depot ; thence the luggage or freight would be taken 
in express wagon to the residence or place directed. Tliis 
platform was accessible through a door usually locked, thus 
preserving each residence private, as if no railroad were in the 
vicinity. 

I found it was near the hour of breakfast ; after which, I 
sought to test the facilities of the new railroad in the matter of 
marketing, of which I had heard much said. The market-box, 
size ISTo. 2, having on it the name and residence, and also his 
registered number in the ^^ Arhor Market,''^ and enclosing a 
written list of the articles, or principal articles, to be purchased, 
was placed on the platform above-named, and in manner defi- 
nitely prescribed ; and near it was revolved the red flag, with 
figure 2 in white. The key of the market-box was retained at 
home, and a duplicate put into my pocket. Soon the market- 
car, under the velocity of the second degree, i. e., partially 
arrested, as heretofore explained, received the box by a mechani- 
cal freight arm, well adjusted for the purpose, of which a model 
had been seen in the rooms of the American Institute, at the 
" Vistc6 Parh" Having several friends to see on my way down 
town, and having been detained on my way by investigations 
of the details of the public baking establishments, utilizing the 
waste heat of several fires for stationary engines, some three 
hours passed before I reached the new market. Then I first 
visited the Stewards' depot — a three-story building, in the 
centre of the space, enclosed by a four-story rectangular struc- 
ture, the Arhor Market. This Stewards' depot was octagonal, 
having eight distinct sections, each corresponding to one of the 
eight principal railroad circuits into which the city was divided. 
In this was arranged, in sectional, as they arrived by the difler- 

2 



34 

ent cars, the family market-boxes, bearing the number, nnder 
which the owners were registered, with their name and resi- 
dence. I went to section No. 5, being the section of my 
residence, and presented to the Keeper my key, havino- on it, 
legibly stamped, my registered number. Immediately he 
showed me my box. Then, leaving there my box and key, I 
made my purchases in the first and second stories of the sur- 
rounding rectangular market ; and handing a card, about the 
size of a finger nail, containing my registered number and sec- 
tion, to each person of whom I bought, all, according to custom, 
carried the articles to my box at the section No. 5. Eevisitiug 
the depot, I relocked the market-box ; and the same key enabled 
the Keeper or myself to revolve the attached index, marking 
the degree of care requisite in delivery on the arbor platform ; 
and without farther trouble to the owner, the box was soon 
delivered at 61 West Twenty-sixth street, from the market-car, 
under motion of the second degree, as indicated by the Keeper 
to the Stewards' depot. 

Again at liberty, I studied the details of the mechanism by 
which the several market cars, on their arrival, were discharged 
and elevated to the third story of the octagon, and then run on 
one of the four bridges leading to the third story of the sur- 
rounding rectangular market, there to remain till those in pro- 
cess of lading were despatched, when they were lowered in the 
octagon as occasion required. The charge for transporting both 
ways and delivering, under moderate motion., a market box of 
size No. 1, was one cent ; for No. 2, two cents ; for JSTo. 3, 
three cents ; for ISTo. 4, four cents. For the same sizes deli- 
vered when the nature of the contents necessitated the delivery 
from the car at rest, as indicated in the estimation of owner or 
of the keeper at the Steward's depot, double the above prices 
were charged. All payments were to be made in advance, 
at the Steward's depot, to secure delivery on the arbor plat- 
form. 

Many families entrusted their duplicate key to a friend at 
the market, or doing business near the market, who regularl}'^ 
called (at the time of doing his own marketing), at the proper 



•35 

section, and opened the box, sent each day, and read the new 
order in the inclosed market-book, and made the purchases 
named. This friend, or agent, conld often make a better selec- 
tion regarding quality and price than could a stranger. 

Housekeepers, having several errands to do abroad, could 
include the marketing without great inconvenience. Six or a 
dozen neighbors could alternate in their purchases, or thej 
could employ some steward in common, who, having the dupli- 
cate keys, would go at a given hour to complete the purchases 
of all without confusion or delay. In all these cases full 
instructions were daily written in the market-book, in which, 
also, the steward made his daily report to each family, without 
any personal interview. In this same market-book were the 
small cards having the registered numbers used on the pur- 
chases as instruction to the seller for delivering the articles to 
the keeper at the steward's depot. 

As all the markets in the city were equally in relation with 
all the railroad circuits, gentlemen, having a fancy to make 
their own purchases, had only to order the box of desired size 
to be sent in the morning to the market, which would be most 
convenient to their daily avocations or visits, and, retaining 
the duplicate keys, select their own time for marketing. Into 
the returning box they often placed other small parcels or 
packages procured during the day. All market boxes were 
necessarily of prescribed dimensions, and alike adapted to the 
freight arm, each furnished with index and registered num- 
ber ; and to avoid too high numbers, letters and other sym- 
bols were systematically combined with figures. 

There were occasionally side tracks for freight, market, and 
bakers' cars, shifted like those described in the tunnel under 
pavilion depot ; and for purposes seen in the promenade freight 
houses between 42d street and Harlem River. 

And in many parts of the city circuits, instead of the arbor, 
were residences or offices like the continuous buildings seen on 
the plateaux of Milwaukie ; all serving, in addition to what 
has been stated, as a necessary protection to the ropes against 
rain and snow. 



36 

All the ferry and steamboat landings, railroad depots, 
wharves, markets, post-office, and city store-honses, were 
united by circuits, fitly chosen throughout all parts of the city, 
over which the cars were mostly propelled by stationary 
engines ; the surplus or waste heat being all utilized in 
mechanical works, public wash-houses, and baking establish- 
ments. 

Individual circuits thus proj^elled, were in some cases united 
to each other by horse-power ; and in particular parts of indi- 
vidual circuits, it was found expedient to substitute horse-power 
in place of the motive rope, as in case of the draw-bridges at 
Milwaukie. 

Through these circuits was made, to and from the central post- 
office, the transmission of the boxes containing sectional or dis- 
trict letters, enabling the penny -post or letter-carrier, to remain 
constantly on his own territory. 

The post-office arrangements were seen to combine safety, 
promptness, and facility ; securing daily three distributions of 
letters. 

The charge for a passenger from one to any other part of 
Manhiittan Island, was only two cents; and yet the net profit 
from rents, freights, and passengers, added to the city treasury 
enough to sujDport the schools of the city. 

ISTew facilities were discovered in this harmonic railroad, 
whose every cord beat responsive to human needs. The difier- 
ent circuits were united not only by the motive rope and horse- 
power ; steamboats were often employed, as those joining Jersey 
City, Brooklyn, and "Williamsburgh to JSTew York. Moreover, 
from Brooklyn to Gowanus Heights, thence to East New York 
and Flushing, on territory previously unoccupied by dwellings, 
were four continuous tracks ; two for freight delivery, and two 
for passengers, or freight cars in less interrupted motion ; over 
which tracks cars were drawn by locomotives, impelled by force 
originating in a mode entirely difi^erent from anything yet men- 
tioned, neither exposing neighboring buildings to the hazards 
, of fire or inconvenience of smoke. 

Over these extended, as in case of promenade railroads, wide 



37 

and high structures, for purposes of three orders, in regular and 
successive alteruation : 

1. Kesidences, combiniug every facility for families, offices, 
and artists' studios. 

2. Manufactories, work shops, ropewalks, wash-houses, flour- 
ing mills, baking establishments, &c. 

3. Freight houses for merchants, mechanics, brokers, and 
farmers. 

Improving a moment, preparatory to an excursion on this 
circuit from Gowanus to East ISTew York and Flushing, thence 
along East River to Astoria, Ravenswood, Green Point, Wil- 
hamsburg, and Brooklyn, I examined the bakers' cars, which 
consisted of numerous, distinct, air tight, caloric-retaining com- 
partinents, entirely surrounding a heater. 

The bake boxes, containing the articles from the baking esta- 
blishments, for several families, in geographical order, were 
arranged in corresponding compartments, with a view to the 
least expenditure of heat, and to their easiest delivery. 

There were three diflerent methods of furnishing the heater 
with caloric, by either of which baked provisions could be 
transported in good state, and left at the exact hour ordered, 
on the arbor platform, or at the sub-stations, as in case of the 
market boxes. 

Soon we were moving thus safely, silently, and commodi- 
ously. Increasing novelties chained my attention, and I saw 
more clearly than ever, that God wills his laws, physical, intel- 
lectual, and moral, should he hnown and ])ractised, and that 
conformity thereto constitutes a nation''s strength. 

Approaching the village of Flushing, St. Thomas' Hall was 
in view. 

Then, in my dream, did I visit the Rev. Wm. H. Gilder, in 
his professional labors, as educator of youth and expounder of 
the beautiful harmonies of Nature's laws. 

At the close of his interesting exercise, presenting truth in 
its simplicity as the mental aliment of ingenuous youth, he 
invited me to participate in the refreshment of the physical 
frame. 



38 

Then was heard the ringing of the bell, which I thonght to 
be from the arbor platform, announcing the arrival of the din- 
ner, for which my appetite was fully set. 

And I awoke. 

Our sails were still furled. The wind was somewhat 
moderated ; but the rain and dense fog required the constant 
rino-injr of the bell to advertize vessels which were known to 
be beating about in our vicinity, particularly the " Monte- 
zuma," bound for Liverpool, and the " Orphan " for Havre. 

David P. Holton. 



39 



FOSTCRIPT. 

In the line of the Arbor RaUroadhad stood a church, adjom- 
ing which had been a building for a lecture-room and Sabbath 
school-rooms. 

In order to give passage to said road, the church had been 
elevated. This change afforded ample room for the Sabbath 
school and lecture-room above ground, instead of occupying 
depressed basements, damp and sickly, too common in many 
places. 

Tliis arrangement left the ground formerly occupied for 
these collateral purposes free for the erection of a parsonage ; 
the whole proving that the church, in its apparent sacrifice for 
the general good of the city, had found itself profited in the 
increase of its accommodations. 

Of the system oi ;paclcmg, to avoid the usual noise of the 
passage of cars, it is not necessary here to report. 

D. P. H. 



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